HLFD in MN: Brasa Premium Rotisserie Restaurant

It wasn't just cheesy goodness we found when we were in Minneapolis.   After asking my friends on Twitter where to go, a couple people suggested Brasa, a great casual rotisserie restaurant.  Melt in your mouth braised beef that's also locally sourced? Organic ingredients in Creole cooking?  We honestly didn't think we would find all of this in MN, but we were pleasantly surprised.

Farro Salad

Going through our pantry, I found the bag of farro sent to us from Juls from Juls' Kitchen (through the Foodie Exchange).  Farro is a deliciously nutty Italian grain that looks like a fatter brown rice or spelt.  It's an ancient grain that originated all others including rice, barley, and wheat.  Though it's also used in soups or cooked with bacon, we opted to make an easy and healthy farro salad instead.

Summer Vegetable Gratin Inspired by Thomas Keller

Summer vegetables from the Farmers Markets made last night's Meatless Monday dish so fresh and flavorful.  I wanted to make a dish with ingredients I had on hand, so I leafed through our growing cookbook collection.  I decided on the Summer Vegetable Gratin recipe by Thomas Keller in his Ad Hoc at Home cookbook (the one my hubby got signed when he met him in NYC).

It's an easy recipe that just takes a bit of time to prep (slicing and marinating the vegetables) and then bake in the oven.  I modified it with what I had available, but I believe you can have fun and use the basic idea/technique with the summer vegetables you have on hand.

Finally...KBS beer in NYC!

My husband is HLFD's beverage guy.  He likes to take his own tasting notes and has filled every nook of our apartment with his great finds ("All in the name of research!", he insists).  In this post, he writes about his journey to enjoy a stout from his favorite brewery, Founders.

A few months ago, I was pleasantly surprised to see Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS) available for sale in New York.  Founders Brewing Co. (from Grand Rapids, MI) previously didn't sell their beers in NY - so I've had to enjoy them as much as I could during trips to Chicago and Philadelphia.  But now that their beers are here, I've been getting my hands on many of their beers, including Red's Rye, Dirty Bastard, Centennial IPA and KBS.

We go Local with FreshDirect + 20% Discount for you!

Do you know where your food comes from?  Other than when we shop at farmers markets or go "shopping" in our parents' herb/vegetable gardens, we admit we don't often know what goes into the groceries that we buy.  So when FreshDirect, an online grocery store, invited me out to Long Island to tour where they source some of their local products from, I eagerly accepted.